The present invention is directed to an appendage that extends laterally from a mobile surface treating apparatus or other robot. More specifically, the present invention relates to a horizontally movable and downwardly biased appendage that extends laterally from a surface treating apparatus, such as a robotic floor cleaner, and uses disposable cleaning sheets, such as dust clothes, wipes, sheet-brushes, and the like.
In the home and elsewhere various appliances, furniture, and similar articles rest on the floor with legs or risers and are raised above the floor surface only a few inches. Similarly, appliances and counters may have low overhangs. Dust, pet hair, and other debris tend to collect under these objects and in hard to reach areas of the floor.
Due to the height and size of surface treatment apparatuses, such as floor cleaning robots, these devices generally are prevented from moving under such objects to clean this area of the floor. Also, some of these surface treatment apparatuses have design constraints, such as wheels designed high enough to roll over surface transitions, and thus are too tall to permit the robot to reach such areas of the floor.
In addition, it is advantageous for a mobile surface treating apparatus, which must navigate in unstructured environments such as a residence, to be able to change direction by rotation around a vertical axis. In order to effectively rotate in very tight spaces, the mobile surface treating apparatus must have a substantially upright cylindrical shape around a central vertical axis. However, the upright cylindrical shape has the disadvantage of not being able to reach into corners of rooms or into similarly sharply, angularly constrained floor spaces. Horizontally rigid extensions protruding beyond the right cylindrical shape of the robot to reach under such objects or into the corners of rooms are not desirable because they tend to prevent the apparatus from rotating due to the extension being blocked by these same objects.
Copending, commonly-owned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/580,083 filed by Kirkpatrick et al. on May 30, 2000, and incorporated herein by reference discloses flexible brushes that extend laterally from the robot. However, these brushes do not collect, i.e., remove dust and debris from the surface and carry it from these hard to reach areas of the surface. These brushes just sweep the dust into the path of the surface treating module for later collection and disposal. The surface treating module may miss the dust and debris due to the brushes not sweeping the dust into the path of the module.
A need exists for an appendage that laterally extends beyond the peripheral edge of the robot that will clean and collect the dust and debris from these hard to reach areas of the surface, such as under couches and counter top overhangs, and into corners of rooms, and yet, permit the robot to rotate around a vertical axis without the appendage preventing the rotation, or translation of the robot, due to the appendage being blocked by or hung up on an obstacle.
The present invention relates to a robot having a periphery. An appendage extends laterally outwardly beyond, and optionally from the periphery of the robot. The appendage reaches areas unreachable by the peripherally circumscribed portions of the robot. The appendage may optionally be downwardly biased and/or horizontally movable relative to the robot.